Trust
by CasuallyCompetent
Summary: This is a little one-shot based on an idea that's been brewing in my mind for some time now. The mentioned OC names are inspired by Nicolaswilde's Zistopia Au, which I cannot recommend enough. Go check it out if you haven't already. Enjoy!


" _Shut up_ , Nick."

The fox paused mid sentence, swallowing the witty remark he was about to throw her way. He gave her an intense, surprised stare as she aimed her gaze out the driver's window, seemingly intent on avoiding his eyes.

Well, that wasn't like her. It wasn't like her at all.

The rabbit subtly winced, berating herself for letting the words escape her mouth. She took in a couple of breaths to calm herself down, still looking away from her partner, whose eyes she could feel stabbing at the back of her skull. Her ears twitched, ever so slightly; she wanted nothing more than to leave the car.

Nick didn't respond. He eventually just sat back on the passenger seat of the police SUV, averting his eyes from her and taking a small sip from his coffee. The suffocating awkwardness that followed decidedly settled between the two.

Nick cleared his throat. "So… We gonna talk about this or…?" he asked her, still looking away.

"My headache?" Judy sighed and rubbed her temples. "Yeah, I'm sorry, Nick. I've had this… _migraine_ all day long today, and it just hit the peak. Didn't mean to-"

"Yeah, yeah, no need for that, Carrots, come on." He cut her off in a mirthful tone; if he was offended, he gave no sign of it. But then again, he was always hard to see through, as Judy so well knew.

But she wasn't. Her perky ears and twitching nose alone would have been more than enough to discern her uneasiness, even for someone less observant than Nick. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that you've been jumpy with me since morning, Jude. I'd love to apologize, but I think I should know what I did to earn your righteous fury first."

She finally turned to him and saw that he was smiling at her, having relinquished his glasses to give her a look that was somehow equal parts teasing, apologetic and concerned. It was, by all means, the perfect response to her minor tantrum.

And it only served to infuriate her even further.

"Get serious, Nick. Why would I be mad at you?" She retorted with a smile of her own, wondering if it looked as forced as it felt.

Evidently, it did. "Don't you try to shrug it off, bunny! You know I can read you like an open book. Come on, spill the beans. What did I do?"

She didn't appreciate his persistence. "Nothing! Get it out of your head already, I'm not mad at you! I told you, I just-"

"I thought it was weird that I was the only one who noticed at the precinct this morning. Everyone's come to depend on the sunny disposition of our hero bunny to start their day off, but I seemed to be the only one bothered by how distant you were all of a sudden. Then I realized that you only stiffened up whenever I talked to you."

"That's not-"

"And you _have_ been itching to start a fight with me all day, fluff. I was almost too scared to step back into the vehicle just now, you know!" He cut her off again with a chuckle. "Is it because I wasn't free yesterday? Are you just mad you had to spend your day off without Slick?"

She responded with a vicious stare, forcing him to drop his smile. "Judy, come on. Cut this out and tell me what's bothering ya. Did something happen yesterday?" He reached out for her shoulder, but she moved away from his paw and crossed her hands over her torso.

"Well, detective Wilde, since you can indeed read me like an open book, why don't you try to figure it out for yourself?" She asked him, her nose once again twitching uncontrollably.

He frowned at her, slightly annoyed by her stance; indeed, she was completely out of character that day. "You're not one to hold grudges, Carrots; let alone against your favorite partner. If you had simply gotten mad at me, you'd have told me off on the beat, gotten me to treat you to a carrot smoothie and forgiven me within hours. But _this_ I cannot wrap my head around, and frankly, it's scaring me a bit."

He shuffled in his seat, his frown deepening. "And even more so because you won't _talk_ to me, fluff. That I really can't handle. Now I'm worried that I accidentally burned your apartment, killed your parents or broke your carrot pen somehow. So _please_ , for the love of God, put me out of my misery and let me make amends already!" He concluded, a charming smile again spread across his face.

"You know you can trust me!"

Judy whipped towards him so quickly that her stiffened ears nearly smacked her across the cheek. She shot him a furious look, stripped of all pretense, instantly freezing his smile. Her face was a tense, unpleasant scowl, and her purple eyes took a couple of seconds to effectively burn a hole in the fox's soul.

She then turned around once more, opened the driver's door and stormed off with a contemptuous scoff.

Nick watched her walk away, stomping angrily, and he could have sworn he spotted a thin trail of smoke escaping her ears. It took him a few seconds to realize he was still smiling like an idiot, wide eyed, in shock after his partner's sudden outburst.

He knew her well. He was confident he knew her better than anybody else in the whole city did. He knew a hundred different ways to make her smile and laugh when she was at her lowest. He had a dozen different methods for teasing her, and could always pick the most effective and least harmful one without fail. Indeed, he believed he knew her inside out, down to her last whimsy and preference.

But he had never seen her so angry; not at him, or at anyone else. Which, of course, could only mean one thing:

Whatever it was that he had done, he had _seriously_ messed up.

"Carrots!" He yelled at her as he too exited the vehicle, running after her, weighted down by a molten mass of worry and guilt resting in his chest.

They had ended the day's shift by parking in a small neighborhood at the outskirts of their assigned district, right next to a wide alley between two old apartment complexes. It was this alley that Judy hard marched in, and now Nick was sprinting down it's length, calling her.

"Carrots! _Carrots!_ " He caught up with her and tried to grab her arm, but she once again shrugged him off.

" _Judy!"_

She finally stopped and turned around; but there were no other encouraging signs whatsoever. Her ears were always towering above her head, managing to make her imposing despite her short build, and her nose was practically having spasms. She crossed her arms once more and gave him another furious stare, her foot frantically tapping against the ground, raising a small cloud of dust.

If Nick thought that she looked impossibly hostile for the personification of kindness and good will that was his partner, she also thought that his desperate and confused look seemed alien on the face of the typically composed and confident fox. She had shaken him up.

Perhaps that moderated her mood, if ever so slightly, or her foot simply got tired, because it's nervous motion slowly died off. The flustered fox raised both paws, stared back at her and spoke slowly and tensely, meaning to convey his absolute honesty.

"Judy… I'm sorry. I am so, _so_ sorry, but you _have_ to believe me, fluff, I have _no_ idea what I've done. I'll make it up to you! I'll do all your paperwork from now 'till Christmas, I'll- I'll treat you to carrot smoothies till you get a chronic brainfreeze, _anything_ you want, but _please_ , just tell me why you're mad at me. _Please._ "

Judy sighed angrily at him, pouting; but her eyes had lost some of their initial spark. Enough for her to talk to him, at least.

"Nick, you could put on a french maid outfit and clean my apartment every day after work, but it wouldn't make hate being _lied to_ any less." She eyed him with meaning, confident that he would finally understand.

His deep frown said otherwise. "Lied to? Okay, yeah. Okay. Um…" Judy found herself needing to fodder her anger to keep it raging at the sight of him bringing his hands together before his mouth and blinking rapidly, clearly scanning his memories of the past few days in a desperate attempt to figure out what she was referring to.

She snapped, perhaps fearing that she would end up forgiving him if he kept this on any longer. "Oh, for- _Dammit_ , Nick! I saw you yesterday, okay?!" She yelled at him suddenly, causing him to recoil. "I was out with Francine, as you know, and we went for lunch downtown. I saw you in the tram at the Rainforest District; with your _hot date_."

Finally, Nick's expression switched to apprehension. He gulped, still somewhat confused, and slowly straightened his back, looking at her. She was still frowning angrily at him, expecting him to say something.

"… That's… _That's_ why you're mad at me?" He asked her in disbelief, sounding relieved.

Hearing his question, she had a moment of realization.

 _It… it really is, huh._

She allowed herself just enough time for her ears to heat up in what was most certainly another sign of her anger before hurriedly answering both herself and her partner.

"Of course it is! You never said anything! I asked you if you wanted to hang out like usually. You said you couldn't because you _were busy_. You didn't tell me you were _meeting someone_ , or even that you _had plans!_ Nothing!"

She paused to take a breath, and noticed Nick's ever growing confusion. "Nick, I don't have a problem with you being on a date, for fuck's sake!" She hurriedly continued; it was unusual of her to curse, but it was hardly surprising to either of them at this point. "That's just it, actually! _Why_ would you feel the need to hide that from me? Did you think I'd get offended or something? That I'd get hurt because you had a date planned and couldn't hang out? That's just ridiculous!"

"Did you think I'd cock block you or something, Nick? Is _that_ what you think of me?"

"Wha- No! No, of course not, Carrots, I-"

"Well then _why_ did you lie to me?! How is that trusting me?"

The yelling was taking it's cathartic effect, and she finally felt the need to stop and organize her wording.

"Nick, _this_ ", she said, motioning between the two of them, "This is important to me. I really need you, Slick, both as a partner and as a friend. But this whole dynamic needs trust, and I… I thought I had it! I tried so hard to get you to trust me, and I thought I had done it, but-"

"I _do_ trust you, you dumb bunny!" Nick cut her off, donning a serious, almost strict expression. " _Of course_ I trust you! More than anyone!"

She scoffed sarcastically to that. "Well, Nick, that's kinda my point: why did you try to get rid of me like I'm a bother instead of telling me how it is and expecting me to understand and give you some space? Because I _would_ , dammit, I'm not some clingy-"

"I know!"

"Okay, you know! So then answer me!"

Nick took in a deep breath and released it in a heavy, drained sigh. He rubbed his eyes with fingers and paused to collect his thoughts.

"… Okay, you're right."

"No shit I'm right!"

"But you're also wrong."

She rolled her eyes, bracing for the wordsmith fox to work his magic around the argument once again.

"Listen, Judy… You _did_ get this all wrong, but the bottom line of the matter is that I've made you doubt my trust in you. And I can't have that."

He sounded more sincere than she had expected. She knew that tone, and that look; he had used it with her before, on very rare occasions, when they had gotten intimate enough for his smooth attitude not to factor in the conversation. He wasn't trying to charm his way through the issue with honeyed words. Her stance finally softened.

He suddenly raised his chin, as if having reached a decision. "Come with me." He told her, finality in his voice. "Huh?"

"Just give me the keys, bunny!" He insisted, playfully feigning impatience. "Why? Where are we going?"

He stepped closer, leaned in and locked eyes with her. "Judy Hopps, you spoke of trust. Now, I wanna show you that I do, in fact, trust you more than anyone else in this entire city, but I'll need you to have some faith in me first. So," he concluded, cocking a brow at her and extending an arm towards her, "Give me the keys and follow me, Carrots."

She eyed him sceptically for a second before slowly taking the car keys out of her front pocket and handing them over.

"Thank you!" He told her with a light bow, the fancy grin having found it's way back to his lips. "Now let's get out of here, fluff, we've made a bit of a scene." Indeed, there were numerous heads protruding from windows on the complexes, looking down at them, and at least two young kits were peeking at them from the corners of the alley.

She lowered her head and followed the fox back to the car in a rushed pace, sagging her ears, which once again had heated up with an embarrassed blush.

Without a word, she entered the passenger's seat and waited for Nick to start the engine, shooting him curious side looks; the whole "get in the car and let me show you something" was everything from corny to downright suspicious.

But in the end, she trusted him.

[_]

They had been driving for just over half an hour. Nick had made a turn from the alley, lead them back towards the freeway they had taken earlier that day and finally took an exit which led them to the Rainforest District. Judy wondered if he was planning to introduce her to the vixen she had seen him with, but that thought was quickly dismissed; he couldn't possibly have decided to do something this rash and stupid at a time like this.

That being said, she hadn't asked him what this was all about again. They had stayed silent for the entirety of the ride, him focused on the road and her staring outside her window, only giving him the occasional furtive glance. She was still displeased with him, but his attitude betrayed that he had something in store which could change that, so she waited to see what that could be.

Staying silent proved more difficult than she had expected, however, as Nick seemed increasingly nervous after taking the exit and steering the car through a series of narrow one-ways, likely taking shortcuts to their destination. Not quite as flustered as he had been in that alley, but still enough so for Judy to have to fight back the urge to question him; she was a naturally curious bunny.

"I used to live here."

Nick suddenly broke the silence as they drove through a small residential area, nodding towards an aged yellow building at the corner of the street. Judy took a good look at it, noting that it seemed to be the best preserved one in the neighborhood, excluding a few visible scrapes on it's plaster covered walls; that didn't mean much around these parts, though, as a few of the other nearby constructions were almost decrepit. It was a detached house, small and lovely, which could have passed as the residence of a lower-middle class family had it been in a better part of town.

"… It's cute." She said neutrally as they passed by it, arching an eyebrow at her reflection on the window. He let out a bashful chuckle, but didn't respond.

Nick brought the car to a stop a couple of blocks down the road, clumsily parking it in front of a small deli. He let out a sigh and smiled at her, nodding towards the road. "Alright, we're almost there."

She exited the car and proceeded to follow him as he made his way down the road, waving hello at an acquaintance that passed by; a senior female bear, far too old and sweet looking to be one of Nick's innumerable business partners from his shadier days.

"Nick, you haven't forgotten we need to return the car to the precinct, right? We've already hogged it for too long, Bogo's gonna be on our tails."

"Not to worry, Carrots." he responded lively without turning to face her. "This will only take a minute." "… Right."

He paused and gave her a teasing grin. "Getting curious?" She humored him a similar smile of her own. " _Yes_ , Nick, because you're a mysterious man indeed. How can a poor bunny help herself?"

He gave her a chuckle, satisfied with her response; he had been yearning for a silly exchange like that all day. So had she, she realized.

A couple of minutes later, Nick took a turn and led them away from the main street, heading towards what seemed like a wide, enclosed area, away from the houses and crowned with trees. Judy narrowed her eyes as they approached the site; it looked kind of like a-

Her ears shot up and she jibed momentarily, clearly surprised. "Nick, this is-"

"Come _on_ , Carrots!" He cut her off, faking frustration and giving her perplexed face a mirthful look.

She gulped and reluctantly followed after him, now feeling uneasy more than anything.

"It's lucky we were close by, or I wouldn't be able to pull off this meaningful gesture today." Nick stated with a grin as they made their way across the cemetery, eventually stopping in front of an old but well preserved marble tombstone at the center of the enclosure.

Judy's heart was beating fast. She stood next to him, looking at the marble, and the first thing she noticed were the two bouquets resting on the tomb. They had clearly been placed there recently.

Then, before she could read the name on it, she took notice of the picture at it's head, sitting behind protective glass. It showed a vixen in her fifties, smiling at the camera.

"That's my mother." Nick stated evenly the second after she had figured it our herself; the vixen's rich red fur was characteristic. Looking over at him, Judy saw that he was staring at the photo as well, and her heart instantly sank. "Frankie Wilde." he continued. "Lost her thirteen years ago."

His expression didn't betray grief, as Judy would have expected. Instead, it was a mix of nervousness and embarrassment, portraying exactly how he felt about bringing the bunny to this place.

"Nick…" She reached out for his arm, suddenly overcome with the urge to drag him into a tight hug, but just then Nick turned to her, speaking up once more.

"And that vixen you saw me with yesterday? Her name is Gwen." He raised his brows cheerfully and smiled at her. "She's been happily married for six years now, and has two kits. Twins, a boy and a girl; _cutest_ little rascals you've ever seen!"

He chuckled, taking her aback with how… _not sad_ he looked. She herself felt the need to cry, along with her aforementioned urges, but he seemed awfully casual; she had trouble telling whether his stance was genuine or he was just trying to hide any emotional weakness, as usual.

"She's a childhood friend of mine. She used to come by my house to play every day when we were kits, and she had gotten real close with my mom. They… really loved each other."

"I don't see her a lot nowadays, what with her being an upstanding citizen and me being an ex-hustler-turned-cop; the only contact we have is typically through Facebook, with me creepily liking the pictures of her children. Seriously, they're downright adorable!"

"But, we do have this little tradition: once a year, at the anniversary of mom's death, we get together and bring her some flowers. Have been keeping this up for thirteen years."

Judy blinked at him once before apprehension dawned on her face. Her ears, which had been glued to the back of her head since they had entered the enclosure, picked up slightly as she looked back at the bouquets. "Oh… _Oh..._ "

"So, yesterday was…?"

"Yeap."

They stayed silent for a while. Judy couldn't bring herself to face him, so she instead stared at the picture of his mother, thinking back to the scene at the alley. With embarrassment, regret and guilt swelling in her chest, and the thought of anyone, let alone Nick, losing their mother so early, she was not surprised to find her sight going blurry.

She eventually looked back at the fox and saw that he was staring at her intently, waiting for her to meet his eyes before continuing; he still didn't look upset.

"Listen, Carrots. As I said, I brought you here to show you that I trust you, okay? Because I've called many people my friends over the years, with varying degrees of honesty, but there has been _no one_ to crack me open the way you have, fluff. I don't want you to doubt that ever again."

He was using that tone again. Twice in a day; that was unprecedented.

Her anger had evaporated, and at the sight of his eyes gazing at her above a soft, simple smile, she felt her heart melt. She sniffled once and rubbed a paw against her teary eyes before smiling back at him. It was a smile brimming with warmth, the only kind she seemed to be capable of, and after not having seen it for two whole days, Nick relished it like a junkie getting their fix.

"… You should have told me, stupid." She complained playfully through another sniffle, trying to moderate her smile. He shuffled awkwardly for a second before responding.

"Yeah, you're right. But you gotta understand, Carrots, it wasn't a trust issue. It's just… Well, it's been _thirteen_ years. After such a long time, of course I've come to terms with it and moved on. But I just knew that, if I told you, you'd give me- _that_ look" he tensed, making a pseudo annoyed gesture towards the large, watery purple eyes looking at him, "and cuddle me all day long even though I'm really _fine!_ "

She giggled girlishly to that and gave him a hug, not bothering to deny it. "I gotta do what I gotta do, Scruffy! You'll have to put up with it. Fine or not, this bunny's cuddling you to death one of these days!"

"Lord, have mercy!" He joked, hugging her back and resting his snout between her ears.

They stayed that way for a while.

"... So, I guess we've given up on Bogo not chewing us out, huh?" Nick said eventually, not moving to break their embrace. She chuckled against his chest. "That was never on the table, I believe. But... yeah I suppose we should get going."

"Mm."

They both gave the tomb one final look, causing Judy's eyes to water anew, and then slowly walked away with the setting sun against their faces.

"Heh, you're such a crybaby…"

"Oh, shut up, Mr. Tough Guy. Like I don't know how sappy _you_ are!"

"Hm! _Do_ you know that?"

"… Seriously though, do you, erm… feel like talking about it?" She looked over at him reluctantly, nodding towards the cemetery behind them. "About… Her?"

He considered it for a second. "With you? I don't mind." He concluded, grinning at her. "How about we go for some of those smoothies after our scheduled scolding?"

She pressed a cheek against his shoulder, satisfied. "Sure! And if I remember correctly, it's your treat."

"It was an offer made in good will, Carrots, but you never took the deal." He let out a brisk laugh. "Come to think of it, I can't believe you didn't stay on the whole maid outfit idea. Such a waste, you won't be getting another chance!"

"Oh, I'm sure I'll get you in a maid outfit eventually if I mean to, Slick. Be _very_ afraid!"

"So you've a thing for cosplay then. Noted."

They went on like this, merrily exchanging teases, all the way back to the car; and only then did they think to break their unconscious hold over each other.


End file.
